Ad Pondus Omnium
by surugasasa
Summary: Kasane was an orphan who was taken in and raised by a kind elderly gentleman. She was a simple girl who shied away from attention although her curiosity always landed her into some kind of horrible situation. In this moment, her life became more complicated. "You, girl, come with me," The man ordered sternly. Kasane gulped; Uh-oh...


**Summary: Kasane was an orphan who was taken in and raised by a kind elderly gentleman. She was a simple girl who shied away from attention although her curiosity always landed her into some kind of horrible situation. In this moment, her life became more complicated. "You, girl, come with me," The man ordered sternly. Kasane gulped; Uh-oh...**

* * *

**Ad Pondus Omnium**

_"To the Weight of All Things"_

**Prologue**

"Kasane!" Seiichi-san called out from the front of the house in his normal gentle voice. "Kasane!" This time, there was a hint of desperation in his tone which the girl noticed, so she sped up a bit more before reaching the front of the house.

Kasane's feet padded against the smooth wood floor faster before she finally saw Seiichi-san who stood defensively with little Ayu and Kei huddling against his side. Her light eyes blinked, and she took in the sight before her.

In front of her home, there stood a tall man in full body armor - ninja armor - that she saw when she was 7, and she wandered onto a battelfield with Shu-kun. The sunlight glistened and bounced off the armor, reflecting light against her eyes. Kasane squinted her eyes as she analyzed the strange ninja. He stood tall and erect like a taut bow that was ready to be strung for battle and turned to face her with a stiff expression on his face.

"You are...Kasane-san?" The man asked in a gruff voice.

Kasane nodded her head slowly, waiting to see what the man would do next. What was going on? She blinked and glanced at Seiichi-san who watched her with a concerned look on his face. His old eyes blinked as he tried to process why there was a ninja at his house.

Kasane gulped inwardly as the intimidating man approached her within a few feet...and then he bowed deeply.

"Hashirama-sama has ordered for me to escort you to him...he has heard of your graciousness in helping our clansmen...please!" The man stated as he was still posed in a deep respectful bow.

Kasane's teeth stopped gritting against each other, and she stared at the man, unsure of what to do. Her mind was racing in 1,000 directions while she thought of one solid and concrete thing: _Damn you, Shu!_

* * *

**Three Weeks Prior**

Kasane sighed as her childhood friend Shu pulled her along as he mumbled about ninjas, samurais, blood, gore, and abandoned battlefields like they were subjects of the norm that people could talk about freely. She sighed internally as his grip on her wrist did not loosen at all...it had been 20 minutes since they left Seiichi-san's house - you would think that Shu could_ catch the hint_, but apparently, like many other things in life, he did not seem to understand that concept at all. Shu still believed that she was a little girl who needed protection from any and everyone. Simply put, he was taking this big brother role too far.

So, with a sigh of exasperation which escaped her friend's notice, she continued to allow him to tug her along while reminiscing about the past.

Kasane was an orphan baby who was tossed out into the rain. It was a night of heavy rain that destroyed people's homes and crops and soil. Old man Seiichi happened upon her when he was coming back home from helping deliver a baby. He rescued Kasane from a possible river storm and raised her as his own along with several other orphan children. Among them, Shu was the oldest child; he was 18 years old and considered an adult. Kasane, on the other hand, was only 16 and a half to his 18. It sadly meant that she was younger than Shu and that she was a girl which added up to helpless young one in Shu's mental calculations.

"Hey, Kasane...do we need more cabbage?" Shu asked her as he pulled them to a fruit and vegetable vendor.

Kasane blinked and then she nodded. "Yeah, I need more purple cabbage..."

"Okay," Shu muttered as he turned to look for a good cabbage to purchase while Kasane sighed before pushing him aside.

"Never leave a man to do a woman's job," Kasane remarked as she grinned at him before shooing him away from the tables that held the fruit and vegetables.

Shu pouted cutely.

Kasane narrowed her eyes.

The two made eye contact for less than a minute before Shu turned away, his face deflating at his loss while Kasane chuckled loudly.

After buying enough groceries to last for the next two weeks, the two teenagers walked back toward their home in silence.

"Hey, Kasane..."

"Hmm?"

"...can we take a short cut...?" Shu asked as he kicked his feet around like a nervous little boy.

"Shu, you're 18...can't you make your own decisions?" Kasane said bluntly although she was not trying to be rude in any way.

Not put out by her bluntness, Shu turned around and grinned at her. "Let's go!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, rushing into a forest.

The two ran for what seemed like ages until Shu stopped.

"Oof!"

Kasane rubbed her nose as her face hit Shu's back when he stopped abruptly.

"Shu? What's wrong?" Kasane asked as she began to worry since he did not talk. She blinked before looking at what his eyes were focused on.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and her mouth parted widely.

_Oh kami..._

Blood dyed the earth as small piles of dead bodies littered the large field in front of them. Men in black, red, and blue laid across the ground like broken dolls that were thrown away.

"S-Shu..." Kasane whispered as she tugged him. "We need to leave...now..." She said as she breathed heavily.

Shu continued to look at the carnage, awestruck. He broke free from her grasp which wasn't that strong to begin with to openly gaze upon the glory of war. "Look, Kasane...look..." He whispered in an excited tone. He had always wanted to be a samurai and work under a lord and grow rich...War was his calling. In a sense, it was; whenever someone picked on any of the orphans, he would attack the bullies and bite and punch and main them in any way he could.

He walked closer to the bloodied field and then -

_Groan. _

Shu and Kasane both froze. They turned to look at each other as Kasane walked to where Shu was, grabbing onto his sleeves tightly.

"_I'm scared_," Kasane whispered as she looked around, her eyes flitting back and forth to see where the groan came from.

Once she uttered those words, Shu's excitement disappeared and his survival instincts kicked in; he had to protect the girl. He reached for her arm and held it until they both saw where the groan was coming from.

A man in red armor lay beneath a pile of dead bodies with a few senbon needles protruding from his side. He coughed and hissed in pain as he tried to move out from under.

The two orphans clutched onto each other before Kasane slowly disentangled herself and approached the man. She knelt down beside him and caressed his sweaty forehead.

The man flinched before looking at her with distrustful eyes. He took in her appearance slowly...

_Civilian..._

Feeling his side ache again, he groaned again.

"Kasane!" Shu swore before walking over and pulling her up. "We have to go!"

"This man needs help!" Kasane protested as she stared up at Shu who was a good head taller than her.

"We need to leave," Shu reiterated while Kasane narrowed her eyes at him.

"You are being a hypocrite; you always want to see battle fields...now you see a man who needs help so you want to leave because you're scared..." Kasane said as she looked ashamed of Shu. "If you want to leave, go...I am going to stay and help him..."

The two orphans continued to stare at each other before Shu sighed, raking a hand through his coarse short hair.

"Fine."

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**I have been bored studying and waiting for the stories on my Alerts list to "alert" me of new updates, so please enjoy this story. The setting is the Warring States period right before Konohagakure is formed. I was inspired by 's The Origins. This was partly due to my desire to write about a Hatake in the Warring States since Hatake Enoki from The Origins died without being able to "fall in love" with the OC of 's story. **


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